The vision of the four horsemen (Revelation 6:1-8) is introduced by an awe inspiring vision of the throne of the God (Revelation 4-5). In that vision, John saw the scroll in the right hand of God, sealed with seven seals. The only one qualified to open the scroll is the conquering Lamb who is also, by his death and resurrection, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (5:5). The sealed scroll indicates that the thoughts of God are complete, sealed up, and no one can add or take from it.
What we see, as John opens the seven seals, is the purpose of God in history, for the scroll contains both comfort and encouragement for God’s people and judgement on a rebellious world.
The four horsemen are companion riders. They represent war, bloodshed, famine and death and are to be considered together. The fourth horseman is not just the final rider in a series, but he seems to represent all four. The previous riders are summed up in the final rider–Death (vs. 8). These riders show us the ongoing judgement in the providence of God on a wicked world today. The final judgement will come, the continuous situation of judgement is serious, but it is not catastrophic, as it will be in the end (as in Revelation 15:1).
So, these four riders of God’s judgement manifest themselves in today’s world in wars, bloodshed, famine and death. They represent only part of the seven seals, and while we may be in suspense with each new seal and cry “how long?” (6:10), God is not rushed to open and to unroll the events of history. When the seven seals are broken and the scroll is completely and finally opened, we will understand, not only the judgment of God against “those who dwell on the earth,” but the triumph of the saints who have followed Jesus and have been sealed and protected by the sovereign Lord through it all (7:1-7).
The first seal: the white horse and rider (6:1-2)
The first rider comes out on a white horse, the colour of conquest. It has been common among a wide variety of scholars and preachers to view the first rider as Jesus Christ. This is because Jesus is identified as the rider of a white horse in Revelation 19:11-21, and both riders wear a crown. It is also most likely because these words “conquering and to conquer” seem to beautifully present one going from victory to victory as Christ does. However, the word for crown in Revelation 6:2 and 19:11 are different and the rider of the white horse in Revelation 19 has many crowns, not just one. So we are forced to take a second look.
While the similarities between these two riders are significant–the white horse, the crown and the conquering–the differences are also significant and instructive. The wicked will have their victories with the bow given to them (6:2), but Jesus, the Faithful and True, judges in righteousness (19:11) with the sword of his mouth (19:15; see also 2:12). The emphasis here among the warmongers of the world (6:2), is not of one going continuously from one victory to another, but of one who has a lust for war; he is “bent on conquest.”
John says also, that a crown “was given” to the rider (6:2). This term, which is used of other riders is most often used of God giving permission to evil powers to carry out their work (9:1,3,5; 13:5,7,14,15; (see 6:4 where it is translated “power was given” KJV, or “was permitted” ESV, and also 6:8).
The judgement of God on the world is, in part, that it might fight with itself, and this is what the first rider is doing. With a lust for war, he rides all over the world; in Russia and Ukraine, in Israel and Gaza and in many other parts of the world where there are wars and rumours of war.
The second seal: the red horse and rider (6:3-4)
The second seal reveals another horse and rider. The horse is “fiery,” or “bright” red (6:4), signifying bloodshed. The rider was given permission to take peace from the world so that people might slay one another, and for this he was given a “great sword” (6:4).
The activity of this rider is similar to the previous (war and bloodshed), but there are significant differences. The previous rider, it seems, represents armies going out to invade and conquer other nations. We might say international warfare. The phrase that is used of this rider, “so that people should slay one another,” has more of a domestic emphasis. The word “slay” is not used for warfare as the first rider, but for slaughtering or butchering. This rider’s interest is to remove peace, to stir up strife; civil wars, racism and tribal warfare, gangs and mobs, violence and bloodshed.
John writes to the Christians in the first century, who were living through violence and bloodshed, for there were those who had been “slain” for the Word of God” (6:9 same word that is used for the slaying of the Lamb, 5:6,9,12; 13:8). We, like those early Christians, are to recognise this as permitted by God, the “sovereign Lord, holy and true” (6”10), and to pray for the Lord’s vengeance and vindication (6:10) and for his return (22:20).
The third seal: the black horse and rider (6:5-6)
When John saw the third seal open and heard the invitation of the third living creature to “come and see,” another horse and its rider came out. This horse was black and the rider had in his hand a pair of scales. The colour of the horse indicates mourning, and the scales showed that food will be scarce and will have to be measured out or rationed in judgement. The price of a quart of wheat was the amount allotted for one soldier for one day, and the point is that the workers’ entire earnings are used up just for bread to stay alive! As we know famine can be caused by weather patterns and by infestations (see Deuteronomy 28:23-24, 38-42), but here, in connection with the other riders, it seems that it is the result of human action; food shortages as trade and transportation are interrupted because of wars and bloodshed, as we see in Gaza currently and in part of South Sudan.
The command to “not harm the oil and wine” (6:6) indicates that while the common man may suffer need and hunger from lack of staple foods, the rich of this world will continue with their luxurious self-indulgence. The riches of the ungodly may be considered a judgement on those who rest on the comforts and luxuries of their self-sufficient life (Matthew 19:24).
The fourth seal: the pale horse and rider (6:7-8)
When the fourth seal was opened, John saw another horse and rider. The horse was a pale greenish/grey in colour, the ghastly colour of a corpse. The rider was Death and he was followed by the grave. Death and the grave are necessary allies (Revelation 1:18; 20:13,14), and the grave follows on foot, like a wild beast, swallowing up the victims of all the previous horsemen; war, violence and famine, fulfilling the “four disastrous acts of judgment” spoken of in Ezekiel 14:21. These are all instruments of the Lord, rolled out by the Lamb against a wicked world that has rebelled against him, thrown off his authority and rejects his mercy. They are all warnings that full and final judgement is coming.
What are we to learn from these four horsemen of the Apocalypse?
First, we should remember that the wars, bloodshed, famines and death are part of a fallen world and they are under the sovereign control of the One who sits on the throne of the universe, who is sovereign, holy and true (6:10). These things should not surprise us. He has subjected the world to vanity (Romans 8:20) and has permitted man’s inhumanity to man, barrenness on earth, and death as judgement against sin because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23; Revelation 6:1-8).
Second, we should give ourselves to prayerful praise that the judgement of God is limited. The confusion, pain and suffering in this world is that the judgement of God is on those “who dwell on the earth” (6:10), or those who “feel at home” on the earth. The saints then, can praise God and pray for vengeance and vindication in a wicked world, knowing that God judges evil. What we see in the world today is not the full or final judgement; that is still to come, but during all of this God has preserved and sealed his people for himself (7:1-17).
A third response to the four horsemen should be to focus our hope. Our hope is not in world peace, secure geopolitical structures, not even in law and order although we should pray towards that, for the sake of the Church (1 Timothy 2:2). Our hope is not in the lack of need or having plenty (6:6). In a world in which these four horsemen are permitted to work havoc, we must learn, as Paul did, to suffer hunger with grace and to enjoy plenty with gratitude–from the same God. “I know,” Paul said, “how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:12). Our hope is in the conquering Lamb, and whatever he rolls out from the scroll should be received as for our good (Romans 1:28).
A fourth lesson we need to learn is the responsibility of the Church to mutual encouragement. Should the sense of responsibility to one another not be heightened as the Church recognises the insecurity of worldly structures and the violence and bloodletting among humanity, not to mention the hostility of the world against the Church (John 15:18; 1 John 3:13). In these conditions, the church should seek ways to support and encourage one another, and not model the violence of the world within the Church (see the relief of the saints in 1 Corinthians 16:3; 2 Corinthians 8:4). We are to do good to everyone, alleviate pain and suffering where we can, but our primary calling is to “those of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10), and we are called to discriminate and strategize in how we offer help to those around us (1 Timothy 5:3,16).
A fifth important lesson from the four horsemen is to remember that we have the only message of hope for the world in the midst of suffering. These four horsemen are, as one writer put it, “instruments of prewrath wrath and prejudgement justice, foreshadowing the end when God’s victory over the enemy will be total.” (Johnson, 122). It is our responsibility to preach the good news, the message of reconciliation to “those who dwell on the earth” estranged from their Creator.